The old adage "It's not what you know but who you know" often rings true, especially when it comes to job hunting. Even if you have an impressive resume with great credentials, most companies do their hiring based on referrals and suggestions from current employees—or at least those referrals get interviews. All that said, if your job search has you spending day after day behind a screen sending out waves of emailed resumes and automated job applications, it's time to change course and start calling your network instead.

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No one's saying you should give up on job search sites and tools, and no one's saying you shouldn't send in your resume to opportunities you find on the web, but according to Career Sherpa, Hannah Morgan points out that you're better off spending more of your time calling your friends and family, past supervisors, colleagues, vendors, and even customers you can still connect with, and other people in your professional network and let them know you're looking for new opportunities and willing to talk to people they can send your way.

If your goals for the new year involve searching for a new job or career, paying more attention to your professional network as opposed to job search sites may be a good way to jumpstart the search. Are you looking for a new job this year? Share your job search tips in the comments below.